Through the Years: An NSPE Time Line 1950–1959

The District of Columbia becomes the last jurisdiction in the country to enact an engineering licensure law.

NSPE launches the first National Engineers Week. With U.S. troops in Korea, President Harry Truman recognizes the week and emphasizes that with "the peace of the world hanging in the balance," the engineering profession should "rededicate itself to the peace and well-being of our common country." An editorial in The American Engineer summed up the inaugural event: "Couple a first attempt with the small amount of money from NSPE funds that was available for the effort, and one feels much hope for the future."

The first income and salary survey is published by NSPE and is sold to members for 50 cents per copy. According to the survey, 50% of engineers earned at least $7,850.

The Board of Ethical Reviewis established. NSPE created the Board to interpret the Code of Ethics. It was initially composed of seven individuals representing various areas of practice and serving three-year terms. The Board was not created to evaluate specific violations, but to take real and fictional circumstances and analyze the ethics involved.